Northern Sky Spies

"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars"—-Oscar Wilde

As a kid growing up on a farm in Minnesota, we had lots of time during the summer to star gaze. I used to lay on the ground and pick out The Big Dipper and the North Star. Later on I learned how to find the Little Dipper. That is about the extent of my ability to pick out formations of the stars in the sky. Last night Far Guy, Chance and I headed out on a quest. We headed out for the end of our driveway to get a good view of the southern sky. We had hoped to see the International Space Station and the cargo ship The Jules Verne. Well at about 9 o’clock we saw something very bright and moving at a pretty good clip across the sky. It was one or the other, we aren’t sure which one it was…but it was awesome! It was something that neither of us had ever seen before. Frankly I had no idea that it was even possible to view the Space Station in it’s orbit with a naked eye. I learn something new every day!Far Guy was impressed also. I had explained to him how we should measure three fists up from the horizon, Far Guy was the first to spot it. We weren’t sure if it was what we were looking for or not, when it disappeared , we realized that it was indeed what we had been looking for! Chance was quite excited, he stuck his nose out of the car window sniffing the cold night air searching in his own way. Occasionally he would bump my shoulder and neck with his cold wet nose..dogs are not very patient star gazers. Thanks go to Astro Bob, a fellow blogger that I ran across totally by accident, he has enthusiasm and great knowledge of the night sky. A link to his blog is included on this page under "The Blogs I Read"….Check it out. I am glad I did!!Tonight we will try again if the sky is clear, from our yard this time..hopefully we will be able to see both the International Space Station and the Jules Verne. The Grand-girls will be here overnight…I am sure that they will indulge me..and perhaps it is something that they will remember a really long time:)

4 Responses to Northern Sky Spies

I remember seeing a satelite once when I heard it would be visible…I think it was one of the first “sputniks” I saw but it was amazing. I also used to lie on my back, getting mosquito-bitten beyond all belief, and look at the night sky when I was a kid…..it is awesome and now when I look up on a clear night, I think of Psalm 8.